Hereafter, Everafter
by Dragoon-Yue
Summary: Zack Fair has returned from the afterlife to help save the world from yet another catastrophe.
1. Arrival

**A/N:** Okay, I know I just posted another version of this chapter earlier today, but I thought that it kind of sucked as (especially) a first chapter, so here's a better version.

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><p>Angeal Hewley found Zack standing on the 'ocean' that looked down into the the living world. At some point after they had died they – and the others – created a 'landscape' within the Lifestream; it was neither real, nor fake, physical, nor none physical. Truthfully, none of them except Aerith seemed to actually understand what it was that they had created (or, perhaps, it's what she had created?).<p>

It actually hadn't been all that hard to find Zack.

_"You are my living legacy..."_

He often looked at the past.

"Man, I should have thought of a better way to say that. Maybe then his memories wouldn't have gotten all mixed up with mine."

There were other factors, Angeal well knew, but he imagined that Zack's dying words really hadn't helped any. Still, what's said is said (amazingly the boy had never blamed him for it).

To be fair Zack had no way of knowing just how wide open Cloud's mind had been at the time, he had only known that his friend was in an almost completely unresponsive daze. He also hadn't known how much power a dying person's last words could have, never mind sealing it in blood as he did by accident.

Good thing he told Cloud, "Live." as well.

"He could have ended up dead like me!"

Zack had also picked up the odd habit of talking to himself ever since things had gone south with Aerith.

"Reminiscing about the past again?" Angeal asked from behind him.

Zack turned around to face his friend.

"I figure it's best not to forget." He replied to his former mentor with a smile.

The older man shook his head in amusement before saying seriously, "It's time again."

"For me?"

"Mm." Angeal answered with a nod.

"Alright. So what is it this time?"

Another smile from Angeal.

"You've got a rendezvous waiting there; they'll tell you what you need to know."

Zack raised a confused eyebrow and asked, "Huh? But shouldn't everyone who went down be back by now?"

A shrug.

"Lifespans have increased again and the others aren't done yet."

Zack smiled sheepishly and, scrubbing the back of his neck with one hand, said, "Oh yeah. I guess Humanity is actually getting pretty close to where it was before..." His smile faded, "Well," He went on, "Lets get this over with."

Angeal nodded and took the lead. With every step they took a musical sound like disproportionately loud drops meeting the water rang out. As such Angeal could hear Zack's anxiousness behind him and shook his head at the younger man's enthusiasm to be going back to the living world. At first Zack, like the others, had been content to be... Well... Dead, but after awhile the energetic man had become extremely board. So when the Cetra told him that there was something coming that could destroy the world and there was no one to stop it – Cloud and the others had been preoccupied with another catastrophe at the time – he had jumped on the opportunity to be doing something about it.

So why did they approach him? Because he was already proven to be able to Manifest as both a wolf and in the form he had been born in and had the necessary and talents to get the job done.

"We're here." Angeal announced.

Zack looked down, then up at Angeal in disbelief.

"Just don't drown." The older man said a moment before his wings appeared, one of which he then used to swat Zack into the water they were standing on.

There was only enough time for the former SOLDIER to make a startled sound of protest before he was crashing through the clear surface and back into Life. Strong currents trying to tug him in every direction told Zack that he was now back on the living plain... And in the middle of a starting storm. He was also out in the middle of a large (and cold) body of water. Zack was not happy (although he was glad that there was no rain as yet).

He quickly got himself oriented and swam to the surface and, not for the first time, was glad that he had all of the enhancements he does. Getting his head above the waves he shook it and looked around as he bobbed on the waves. Great. And he had no idea which way land was.

_Zack was now standing waist-deep in calm, body-temperature water with Angeal standing back-to-back with him. All around them was nothing but a whiteness that swallowed everything else and held them both in a gentle calmness._

_ "When you leave this space swim straight ahead – the nearest land is in that direction." Angeal told him, "Go quickly; the storm is going to be getting worse."_

_ "Got it."_

Zack came out of the White Space and immediately started swimming. As the waves tried to batter him and suck him under he stayed unerringly on course and kept going. It took two hours – in which he wondered what it is that he's got to do this time – for Zack to reach land. He walked onto the sandy beach (which was making an odd squeaking sound) as he Manifested clothes on himself and dropped himself amid the grasses to look around and figure out where (and possibly when) he was. A little ways away he noticed a few plants with long leaves growing together. They were twenty-one centimeters tall with elongated leaves that had serrations. Growing along some stems were clusters of two to four small flowers with five white petals each. Zack identified them as being Sand Cherries.

He settled himself onto his back, the sand squeaking as he moved, and stared up at the sky just as the rain began to fall.

"Squeaking sand..." He noted aloud, "Sand Cherries... Big body of water... Lake Michigan?"

No answer. Great. And the rain was really starting to come down. With a sigh he got to his feet, turned around and started heading inland.

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><p>Since the day he had died Zack had been been able to see anything wherever the Lifestream existed. He had watched the Human race create civilizations that colonized Mars before crumbling back into dust. He had seen peoples that could have been great simply fade away. He had witnessed myths being made (and been at the center of more than a few). In the time that Zack had watched the planet and his race struggle, triumph and fall once more he had come to a simple conclusion; people usually can't save or help themselves, endlessly repeat their mistakes in the belief that the outcome will be different and are generally self-destructive. As such people like himself exist to save andor help them. Or the people who **will** save and/or help them (as he did with Cloud).

About ten thousand years ago had been the closest call they'd had to date (at least since they had died; the incident with Chaos and Omega held that title for while they were alive). That was when the entire planet had been reshaped – literally. All of the continents had been rearranged and reshaped, the planet tipped three degrees and civilization obliterated.

Since dying all of them had seen the Human race go through alot and wondered if there would ever be a time when they were no longer needed.

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><p>Zack finally made it too a town and collapsed under a tree where he listened to the sound of the rain simply because he could; it was something that he hadn't been able to do in awhile. Nearby a young woman saw him and came running up to him. She shook his shoulder, concerned for him. He opened his eyes to see who the offending hand belonged too and smiled when he came face-to-face with a pretty blond with blue eyes wearing a pink hairband. A part of him wished that it was Aerith crouched beside him. He shoved the thought aside.<p>

"Well, aren't you a lovely sight." He commented to the blond. She blushed.

"Zack Fair, I take it?" The young woman asked.

"Guilty as charged." He replied.

She sighed and said blandly, "Aerith Gainsborough has been expecting you."

Zack couldn't help it as his smile spread wider across his face; Aerith may not want to see him anymore, but he definitely wants to see her. Maybe this time he can fix things with her and get it right.

"Lead the way." He told the blond.

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><p><strong>AN:** Alrighty then! This is the first time that I have written these characters so please tell me what you think and if I goofed their personalities at all. If I did please explain - if you can - how I goofed it so that I may correct the error.


	2. Christina Christopher

**A/N:** Sorry, Aerith was supposed to be in this chapter... In fact, this chapter was supposed to be significantly longer... Again, sorry about that; I'll try to make the next one a decent length.

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><p>Cristina Christopher sat at the dinner table in the kitchen, finishing up writing down the groceries list. Blowing out a puffy-cheeked sigh she wished, not for the first time, that there was a man in the house to help her. She was all for female independence, but heavy is still heavy. Yes, she wanted one around as a pack mule. She would probably have more respect for the opposite gender if she had met one or two who actually treated <strong>her<strong> with respect. There were other issues, but that was the biggie.

Getting up from her seat at the dinning table she went into the front hall (which was attached to the kitchen) and grabbed the house keys. She already had her boots on so she just grabbed the umbrella and went straight out the door. Closing it behind her she locked it up, opened the umbrella, moved it over her blond head and headed out along the street outside of her house. The rain made a hollow staccato of pounding above her where it hit the material of the umbrella.

Christina lived by herself in a small town a couple of hours away from Michigan Lake. She'd been married (he had been everything to her) in another town, but her husband had left her for his mistress and the two had gone on to live in the city where he had then made it big. After he had left her Christina had found a house in another town and bought it with the savings that she had set aside as a trust fund for when they had children. She had vowed never to get involved in a romantic relationship again and so those savings had become pointless. Hence, she used them to buy herself a new house.

All throughout her life she's had... Issues... With men and the divorce had simply been 'the straw that broke the camel's back' as it were. She couldn't trust them anymore, at least not with her heart (but in her secret heart of hearts she wanted to find someone), which was why she ignored Jeremy's attempts to woo her time and again.

It was when she was about a block away from the store that she spotted a very attractive young man with soaking wet, black hair (swept back from his face) sitting under a tree. He appeared to be unconscious. Concerned, she went over to him and crouched down next to his tall form. Reaching out she shook his shoulder.

"Hey. Are you alright?" She asked.

He didn't seem to hear her so she shook his shoulder a bit harder. Now he opened his (impossibly blue) eyes too stare at her hand and then follow the line of her arm (she was **not** blushing) up to her face. He stared for a long second, eyes intent and surprised, then it passed and he said, "Well, aren't you a lovely sight."

She blushed. Great a flirt. Wait a minute... There was a guy Aerith said that she was expecting (it had been hard to tell if the woman was happy or angry about this) and thinking about the description of his appearance and personality that Aerith had given her Christina realized that this was probably the guy.

"Zack Fair, I take it?" The young woman asked.

"Guilty as charged." He replied cheerfully.

She sighed (any interest that she might have had for this man died a horrible, bloody, monstrous death) and said blandly, "Aerith Gainsborough has been expecting you."

A smile spread across his face that would have turned many a female head and made any normal woman down right giddy if it was meant for her. Christina was utterly immune (now that she knows who he is) and couldn't help but think that he's probably never been short on his choice of women.

"Lead the way." He told the blond.

She nodded and stood, gesturing for him to follow. He hopped up onto his feet, tried to brush some of the mud off of his pants and failed. She pulled a clean hanky out of a pocket in her skirts. Staring at his hands silently for a second Zack shrugged and looked back up at Christina – to find her holding out the hanky for him to wipe his hands on.

"You sure?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Yes."

With a simple "Thanks." he took it and started wiping his hands off. When he was done he stared at the now very dirty hanky for a moment then did something that surprised her more than a little; he shook it out and green tendrils of light seemed to come out of his fingers and engulfed it. When they vanished the hanky was clean again. He handed it back to her and she stared at it astonished, then up at him.

Of course she asked, "Why didn't you just do that for your pants and hands?"

"Uhh... Because then I would have been bottomless and handless... At least for while I was doing it."

Christina raised an eyebrow at him, then cast her eyes back down to the hanky in her hand and noticed, on the topmost corner where he had held it, embroidery that hadn't been there before. The light in her head went on and she looked up at him once more.

"Did you... Restructure the matter?" She asked.

"Well, that's how one person described it..."

"Is that actually what you do?"

"Yeah. We were running some tests."

"I see..."

Giving the hanky one last thoughtful look she put it away and gestured for him to follow as she stuffed it in a pocket.

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><p><strong>AN:** No romance going on between Christina and Zack here folks! Anyway, please tell me if I've got him in character and if you hate or like my original character so far. In-put like that is always useful to know for making a descent OC (Original Character in case you don't know the abbreviation). Just please don't be cruel about it.


	3. Meeting Up

**A/N:** My apologies for yet another pathetically short chapter.

Secret Tales - I hope that I manage to keep your interest! Next chapter should shed some more light on what the crisis that requires Zack's help is.

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><p>Zack followed the blond woman through the undergrowth of the forest that surrounded the village, wondering when they were going to get to their destination; his attention span may have improved overall, but he still tended to be a bit impatient about certain things. In an attempt to distract himself, he decided to try – yet again – to start a conversation with his blond guide.<p>

"So, uh, you haven't told me your name yet..."

"...Christina Christopher."

"Well that's a pretty name."

"Mm."

"Right..." He murmured to himself, trying to think of something else to keep the conversation going.

"Uh, so how did you meet Aerith?"

"I got attacked while I was out in the forest by something she called a Jenova Monster."

'Jenova Monster' was a name that had been applied to monsters with Jenova cells as a way of differentiating between them and other types of monsters that they had encountered over the ages. The idea was to reduce confusion in certain situations where it would otherwise be easy to get things mixed up.

"It tried to drag me into this sack... Thing... But Aerith stopped it and healed me. She saved my life."

"Uh, the sack... Did it look like some kind of... Organ?"

Christina stopped and turned to stare at him. He stopped as well.

"...Yeah, it did. It was attached to a tree."

She turned around and started walking again.

"The thing looked like it was sucking the life out of the tree and everything around it."

Oh, great. He had a pretty good idea of why Aerith had asked for help; it looked like they might of Jenova Wombs to deal with. That meant that this could be an Infestation. The question is; if they really are dealing with an Infestation how far has it spread?

They lapsed into silence, Zack keeping on the alert as they continued to trudge through the undergrowth. Normally he actually had fun doing his 'job', but if a Jenova Monster jumped out at them it wouldn't be only his neck on the line – it would be Christina's too and, as far as he can tell, she doesn't know how to fight.

Thankfully, they reached where Aerith was without incident. The place she was at was a bit surprising; it was an old magical nexus marked by an enormous oak tree on one side and a tall, wide stone engraved with Viking runes. Most Americans – at this point in their history – were unaware the Vikings had made it across the ocean and even had trading going on with the natives. Said Vikings had made it surprisingly far inland. Aerith was kneeling down between the two markers, praying. Apparently done, she stood up and turned around which was when she saw Zack and gave a start at the sight of him.

She brought a hand up to her chest and clenched it in a fist.

"He sent you?" She asked quietly, hesitantly.

A knife twisted in his chest.

Christina wondered what their history was, but would never ask.

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><p><strong>AN:** Next chapter will be backing up a bit again too show things a bit more from Aerith's point of view, though it will remain in third person perspective.


	4. Aerith's Arrival

**A/N:** I wonder if I'll get any reviews for this chapter... Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this! Next chapter will hopefully get the plot going.

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><p>Aerith woke up under an enormous oak tree. That was usually how the Lifestream sent her back into life (that or it uses water). As she sat up the wind whispered to her why she had been sent back this time and, with a sigh, she picked herself up off of the ground and took a look at her surroundings to get her bearings and figure out where she was. Directly too her left was a large, carved stone etched in runes. It's presence told her nothing of where she was (the Vikings got everywhere).<p>

_"Michigan..."_ The wind sighed through the leaves and in her ears, beckoning, _"This way..."_

Obediently, Aerith followed, glad that she had her boots on, but wishing she had some clothes that were a bit more practical for undergrowth. As she walked the brunette took in her surrounds in a little more detail. It was a beautiful forest with conifers, birches and maples; sunlight streamed through the branches and leaves giving everything a happy glow. Dead leaves and twigs crunched and snapped underfoot as leaves from the undergrowth caught on her skirt and brushed her calves. Everything seemed cheerful, happy and healthy on the surface, but Aerith could sense something sick, vampiric and malignant underneath, creeping, infesting, infecting and slithering it's way deep into the land.

Her stomach roiled as the awful familiarity of this canker crawled it's clammy fingers up her back, sinking claws into her gut and brain until she felt like her head was spinning, but wasn't at the same time. This was one of those moments in which she wished that she could feel Zack's strong arms around her, holding her close. Aerith had never actually wanted to leave him... But those horrifying visions of what the fate of their children would be (their daughter's soul eaten away, their son gone mad) compelled her too run away from him to prevent them from being born to her and Zack. Maybe if they were someone else's children they would have a happier existence (she hoped, she prayed that this was so).

Angry at herself for her lapse (for her own weakness) she pushed away her desire to have Zack with her (telling herself that she hadn't been all that serious about him anyway) and followed the twisted wrongness poisoning the land. As Aerith drew closer to the source the feel of it grew inside of her until she felt nauseous and had too stop, sit and take a breather for a moment. It's a lot easier to be strong for the sake of someone else than it is to be strong alone. Taking several deep breaths to center herself she focused on the sounds around her. Ironically she used to fear the sound of the wind, but now it soothed her more often than not.

The wind, today, carried a voice to her, one that was screaming for help. Without a second thought Aerith was up and running towards them, a staff Manifesting in her hand. Leaves and branches clung, tugged and brushed her and got stuck in her hair as she hurtled along. Finally coming to where the person screaming for help was Aerith discovered that it was a blond woman with torn up and bloody clothes being dragged along at the ankle by a Jenova Monster (which the woman was kicking the entire way) that looked vaguely like it might have once been a dog or wolf.

The creature spotted her and stopped dragging it's victim to stare warily, though it did not release it's victim despite her continued kicking. Aerith would be the first person to tell you that in a physical fight she isn't much use outside of support; that was why she was generally accompanied by someone else who is good at fighting. However, that does not mean that she can't deal with something weak like this creature. In fact, judging by it's melting flesh, it was unstable and already dying. Hoping that she wasn't misjudging it's strength and tuffness she switched the staff in her hand out for her more colorful Aurora Rod (which was fatter on either end than it was in the middle). Now the creature released the woman (who scrambled back as much as her injuries would allow) and turned it's full attention on Aerith.

It was sometime ago that Zack had given her lessons on staff fighting – she didn't even remember when – but for the first time since he had all but forced her too learn Aerith hoped that she would actually be able to use what he had taught her. She hated fighting, but she also knew that sometimes it really is necessary.

The creature lunged unexpectedly and knocked her over (she managed to get the staff between it's jaws and her throat), snarling and clawing. Having only been among the living again for a short while Aerith wasn't alive again yet and only felt physical pain as a visceral sensation that was quickly gone as the injuries stitched themselves up with glowing green light.

A well aimed and well thrown rock from the blond woman knocked the Jenova Monster off of Aerith and the half Certan quickly scrambled to her feet, while the other woman continued pelting rocks at it with disconcerting accuracy. The creature snarled as it tried to figure out which of them to go after first. Apparently making up it's mind the creature lunged again, but this time it was aiming for it's original victim.

Without thinking Aerith raised her Aurora Rod and swung it down as hard and as fast as she could (an image of Zack swinging his sword down entered her mind, try as she might not to think of him), catching the thing mid-lunge, the Aurora Rod connecting with it's skull (there was a sickening crunch as the bone caved in and brain pulped and bruised) and the thing dropped to the ground, twitching. Shocked at her own actions she stared at the dead creature for several moments before the sight of it's melting flesh and crushed skull, bits of bone poking out of the split skin as brain matter oozed caught up with her and she realized that the end of her rainbow-colored staff was still pressed into it's injury. Raising it off of the creature a glob of flesh fell free to splat onto the carcass.

Her stomach roiled, but she swallowed the bile back down; there was a chance that there were other creatures like it around and she needed to get the other woman to safety. Looking over at the blond Aerith saw that she needed healing badly and said a prayer. The planet granted her Pulse Of Life and healed the blond who, although clearly amazed, took it in stride. Behind Aerith the creature was restored to it's original form of a wolf, it's injuries also healed.

"Thank-you." She said to Aerith.

"You're welcome!" The half Cetra answered, putting on a smile for the woman.

"Do you know what that thing is?" The woman then asked shakily, pointing a trembling finger at a tree, not noticing the wolf climbing up off of the ground and giving itself a good shake.

On the tree Aerith could clearly see what appeared to be a very large organ attached to the bole, veins burrowing through the bark and into the core of the plant, drawing out nutrients and Mako from it. It was a recent (as in some time in the last few thousand years) mutation that was causing everyone that was trying to keep Jenova's Legacy from spreading no end of problems.

"It's a Jenova Womb." Aerith turned her gaze away from the unnatural sight and back to the blond, "For now, though, I think we should leave."

"A-alright." The woman agreed, forcing her own eyes away from the Womb and over to Aerith, "I'm Christina Christopher," She introduced herself as she stood up, "May I ask your name?"

"Aerith Gainsborough."

"A pleasure. The town's this way."

And they started walking, Aerith wondering at the pause in the other woman. It was a long while before either spoke again and when they did it was Christina who broke the silence.

"Wh... What happened back there? Was it some kind of demon...?"

"No. They're different! That was a Jenova Monster!"

"I think that's about all I want too know right now."

"Okay."

Aerith didn't blame her one bit; the half Cetra wished that she herself didn't know about this stuff. She had only ever wanted to be normal, not different, separate and apart form everyone else. Not the last of an entire race... Not that she had ever had any choice in the matter.

"So, uh," Christina started again, "Where exactly are you staying...?"

She figured that the blond woman probably wanted to know where to steer clear of. Unfortunately Aerith didn't have anywhere to stay (although it's not like it was the first time that she'd had to camp out; she'd gotten rather good at it, in fact).

"Don't worry," She answered the woman with a smile, "I know it's scary, so you wont see me again after this."

Christina stopped dead in her tracks (Aerith paused behind her), scowled and demanded very abruptly, "What kind of answer is that?" She whirled around and added pointedly, getting up in Aerith's face (she suddenly realized that Christina is shorter than her) "You just saved my life! So I will not just walk away, pretend that nothing happened and leave you too deal with those... Things! Whatever they are! On your own! So suck it up and deal with it!"

Aerith was understandably flabbergasted and speechless as the other woman spun on her heel and started heading off again in the direction of the town. The green-eyed brunette started following again.

"I promise I won't get in your way." Christina added, a bit more tentatively.

Aerith couldn't help but smile and shake her head. Then the idea that this woman and Zack might get along entered her brain and she felt a pang of jealousy hit her.

_It doesn't matter! We're not an item anymore...!_

"Not an item with who?" Christina asked, thoroughly confused and startling Aerith, who was certain that she hadn't said her thoughts out loud.

The half Cetra brunette hesitated then started talking. She only meant to tell the woman a small bit, not her entire life story, but that was what ended up coming out – including when she had gotten those horrifying visions.

"...So..." Chistina said thoughtfully, "These visions of your children started **after** you... Consummated," Aerith blushed and there was a faint tint on Christina's cheeks too, "Your relationship with Zack? And they've continued off and on?"

"Um, yeah."

"...Then wouldn't that mean that it's already too late?"

Aerith came to a dead halt and stared at Christina, aghast.

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><p><strong>AN:** Please, please tell me if I got Aerith in character! I'm really nervous about this!


	5. Life

**A/N:** My only excuse for how long this took is that I'm working on multiple stories at once...

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><p>Zack and Aerith stood under the wide spread of the oak tree's leaf-laden branches wordlessly staring at each other, neither sure what to say or do next. The sunlight peeked through here and there dappling the two of them and their single-person audience in warm, golden light. It has been three weeks since Aerith had met Christina and there has still been no indication that half Cetra is pregnant, although the visions were still persisting.<p>

And she was fairly certain that she now knew why. Steeling herself, Aerith forced a smile onto her face and said, more genuinely than it seemed, "I'm glad you're here – I could use the help!"

He wordlessly nodded, a forced smile on his own face.

Christina looked back and forth between them and raised an eyebrow. She felt a pang of sympathy for this poor guy; he looked like a kicked puppy trying to smile. After a couple more minutes of awkward silence passed she realized that she had been completely forgotten and that the two probably would not move or say anything for some time. Christina decided that – since she still has groceries to get and, more importantly, their are still monsters in the forest that need to be gotten rid of – this needed to be cut short for the time being. They could work out their issues when they get back to her place, provided that they don't get overly load about it.

"O-KAY." Christina said with volume to get their attention, "Maybe we should get going..."

Aerith gave a start, turning her gaze away from Zack and only now noticing that Christina was present. Flushing a bit in embarrassment that she had so thoroughly over looked the woman Aerith nodded, turned and started leading the way. The walk was conducted in silence since no one knew what to say to break the tension. The only sound was that of leaves rustling as they brushed against them, twigs snapping and branches catching on clothes; of animals and insects, of the wind, there was not a trace. All three of them found the unnatural silence extremely creepy.

Zack, after he-didn't-know-how-long, began to see signs of the mako in the area being drained away and frowned. Of all the things he had seen from Jenova this was the one that bothered and angered him the most. Monsters? Fine, he'll just kill them. Draining the life force out of the planet until everything starts dying? He has no way of stopping that, which left him feeling helpless and uselessly angry. The only person that could heal the land after Jenova has literally sucked the life out of it is – as far as he knows – Aerith.

More than once he had wished for their to be someone else to shoulder the burden with her, but it was a wish unfulfilled.

He knew when they started getting close to the central cluster of cells by the subconscious pull from the creatures ahead on the Jenova Cells that both he and they possessed. If he hadn't seen what that pull could do while watching Cloud from the Lifestream he never would have been able to make his mental barriers strong enough – especially not with his open nature. But somehow he had managed to find the mental strength to keep them out of his mind, though he could still sense them unlike Cloud who had blocked them so effectively and thoroughly that he was generally unaware of a Jenova Monster until it was right on top of him.

Rich life melted away and was devoured into twisting, obscene death the further they went. Random carcasses of animals that hadn't been dragged into a Jenova womb could be seen here and there as they walked and, everywhere, the bodies of insects, bugs, spiders and all such creatures crunched under foot. A shudder ran up both women's backs.

Catching something on his peripheral vision Zack stopped and looked as Aerith and Christina kept walking, not noticing that he wasn't still just behind them. What he had noticed was the contracting movements of a Jenova Womb giving birth. Imagine being able to see the birth contractions on a woman's exposed womb – they start from the top and push down to get the baby out – while she's in labor and you more-or-less have what it looks like for a Jenova Womb giving birth.

"Guys." Zack called, his tone serious enough to make them pause and turn around, "Wait a moment; there's something I have to deal that can't wait."

The two women exchanged glances, then walked back to where he was and followed his line of sight. Seeing what it was, both women cringed and nodded to him. Both understood that he intended to kill whatever came out.

Manifesting the Buster Sword – he felt sheepish for forgetting to do that in the first place and Christina was a bit bug-eyed at it's size – Zack marched over to the Womb and waited for the monster to emerge. When it did, falling wetly to the ground wrapped in birthing water and blood, he lifted the Buster Sword, set the point over the mal-formed creature's chest where it's heart beat, raised the point several inches, then slammed it back down and through it's chest. Heart blood sprayed, but Zack knew to leave the Buster Sword in the creature to avoid being splattered too much and only ended up with a few drops on his shirt and pants. The monster let out one awful, shrieking wail, jerked and went limp. After a couple of moments Zack pulled the Buster Sword free and – manifesting a harness similar to the one that Cloud had come up with – pushed it through the very tough holder; he'd have to clean it later. The weight pulled at his shoulders, which he rolled backwards and forwards until it settled comfortably as he watched the monster disintegrating at his feet.

He rejoined the other two and the three of them continued on in silence, Zack more alert than before for any possible dangers.

Blood dripped from the end of his sword.

At length they came to a standstill just at the edge of a clearing. Stretched out in front of them was... Nothing. No plants, no animals, creepy-crawlies; just barren, brown dirt. And at the center of that expanse was a throbbing mas of... Something organic and pulsing, ruffly shaped like a heart. As one could probably guess this particular form the Jenova Cells sometimes took had – at some point along the way – been dubbed a 'Jenova Heart'. Coming out from this thing from all sides and disappearing into the hard-packed dirt were what looked like veins and arteries – which is what they're referred to as – that both Zack and Aerith knew led to the Jenova wombs out in the forest.

The ex-SOLDIER felt a cold chill seep through him when he found that he couldn't count the veins and arteries plunging into the ground. He'd always been one for a challenge and enjoyed doing this kind of thing, just not when there's a town with people in it so close by; it gets very hard to keep people from getting killed with this kind of set up.

Zack spoke up, but in an extinct language that he knew Christina would not understand, "Do you know how far the Jenova Cells have spread?"

Aerith answered in the same language, "No I couldn't map all of it... But I know that there are several others in Michigan and in other states."

"...And you couldn't map all of it?"

Aerith silently nodded.

"We should get your friend out of here."

It went unsaid that Zack would be returning almost immediately to uproot the Heart.

Another silent nod Aerith.

As one they turned and Aerith said to Christina, "Well, time to go!"

While turning to head back Zack noticed that Christina's skin had turned as gray as ash, though her expression was calm. They walked in silence for a while until they came back to the living plants. That was when Christina – a little color returned to her – decided to start talking again.

"Zack..."

"Yes?"

"Would you be willing to please help me get Aerith here to actually accept a change of clothes for longer than it takes her to wash that pink dress?" Christina's tone of voice changed from casual to grit-teeth annoyed, "She has been **very** stubborn about this."

"I told you-" Aerith began.

"I don't want to hea~r it~." Christina sing-songed with false cheer.

The other woman sighed in exasperation.

"Well," Zack began, "Aerith we do kinda stand out in these clothes... It might be easier to get things done if we at least look semi-normal..."

Aerith thought that over, decided not to point out the dried blood on the Buster Sword to him, then sighed again and nodded, saying, "Alright."

Deciding to try and lighten things, if only a little, she answered in what she hoped was a suitably melodramatically exaggerated manner.

"THANK-YOU!" Christina emphatically exclamated as she threw her hands up.

Zack grinned in amusement, holding back a laugh as Aerith giggled – which stopped abruptly enough to draw her two companions' attention.

"Zack." She said calmly, but worried "There's another one giving birth."

"Oh, god," He responded with a barely held back groan, "Don't tell me it decided to make them in batches!"

"Looks like it." Aerith answered.

With an exasperated sigh Zack went over, pulled out the Buster Sword from the harness, dried, now brown blood flaking off, and waited. After about ten minutes it was done. Zack stared at the result and inwardly groaned. Jenova Wombs are, unfortunately, created from living women – although there is no sentience by the time the changes are done – and, occasionally, one of them will be pregnant at the time. When this happened the result was a Human-Jenova hybrid like Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal. And just like the latter two most started to degenerate some time in their twenties. Some – such as Genesis – found ways to stop or reverse the degeneration, but most went insane and then died, often causing world-threatening crises before their life ends.

Still... Zack couldn't bring himself to kill the squirming baby girl with golden-brown hair laying on the ground covered in water and blood; he just wasn't that jaded even after everything he had witnessed and fought. The baby started wailing. A second later both women were standing beside him and staring in shock as the infants cries picked up strength.

_Kid's got a good set of lungs._ Zack noted.

Aerith, having seen this kind of thing before, recovered after a second and took off her pink jacket and went down on her knees, wrapping the baby up in it. It was only when Aerith had the baby cradled safely against her chest that she started to quiet.

"We're going to need a name for her." Aerith said quietly.

"Rosette." Zack answered immediately.

Aerith went still, horror creeping through her as her face turned ashen.

"Bad choice?" Zack asked, trying not to sound alarmed at his ex's expression, "It's 'cause of the mark on her hand..."

The half Cetra gave a start and inspected both tiny, dirty hands and – sure enough – there was a little mark on the back of her left hand that was shaped like a rosebud. This, Aerith realized, was not the Rosette from her visions.

"I don't think that Rosette is the right name for her..."

"Alright, alright!" He said, holding his hands in defeat, "We'll pick something else!"

"I think," Christina said, "That I might know someone with a baby name book..."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Zack said agreeably.

Aerith nodded and said, "Okay." Standing, she added, "We should get going."

The other two were in agreement and, with Christina leading the way, all three of them headed once more to the town.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So... Was that even semi worth the wait?


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